blog.circusgeek

a personal blog with nerdy bits thrown in

Category: Beer

  • Tweaking the blog, and house work.

    Immediately after my earlier post I started fiddling with my blog layout a bit. No big changes, just made it three-column, tweaked the display of some of the sidebar widgets, and adding a Twitter feed widget, so you can see my ‘tweets’ (ugh, that’s never going to sound anything less than totally stupid).

    After that I spent time cleaning some of the upstairs windows inside and out (involving crawling out on the patio roof), finished cleaning the lower eves, and some other cleanup. I’m now exhausted, but am having a beer in the back yard with Kelly. I’m surfing, she’s reading a book. It’s very nice in the shade of my back yard right now. I’m supposed to get cleaned up and head to a friends BBQ / Housewarming, but I’m not sure I’m going to make it (if I don’t, sorry JB, we’ll catch up soon, I swear).

  • Server rebuild, office move, family weekend

    Server rebuild
    Last weekend (Labor Day weekend in the states) I spent my time rebuilding my linux server (circusgeek). The poor machine had been running non-stop for 4 years, 2 months, 27 days. The primary system drive was showing some signs of impending death, so it needed to be replaced. I also figured I’d add a bunch of memory since I was in there performing surgery. After meticulously backing everything up, I swapped out drives, added the memory, and began restoring everything. The new OS install was fast and painless (I chose Ubuntu this time around), but the process of getting all the server services running and configured took a bit more time. However, everything’s back and running better than it had been.

    Last day in the old offices
    This past week was the last for myself and many others in the old SuperSweetCo offices on 3rd and Alder. First thing tomorrow we’ll be joining the rest of the company who have been in the new office building for some months now. I’ve been in the same corner of the same floor of the same building since I started over 2 years ago, so it’s going to be a bit bittersweet. I’m looking forward to the change of work environment, but I’m definitely going to miss the location of the old offices, and it’s proximity to the waterfront, the MAX and bus lines, the restaurants and the shops. The new office however is very close to Powell’s Books and Kenny & Zuke’s, so that’ll be good. 🙂

    Family weekend
    On Friday after work Kelly and I drove out to a tavern in Beaverton to celebrate my dad’s retirement. My mom had arranged for a large group of his now-ex-coworkers to join, and they all got up, embarrassed him with old stories, and gave him gag gifts. It was actually pretty fun, even though I didn’t really fit in with a bunch of linemen. The thing that struck both myself and my brother was the camaraderie, the feeling of family, that the group had. They all work hard, they all risk their lives together, and they all rely on one another. Oh, and I found out that they put his hard hat on top of a pole to honor him, and it will stay there, even if they replace the pole. Pretty cool.

    Yesterday Kelly and I went to a BBQ at my aunt’s house because my cousin Julie was in town. I got to see a few other cousins (Kris and Dana) who I’d not seen in many many years. It was both a fun and weird BBQ. 🙂

    After I got home, I did some yardwork, sipped on some beers, and then dozed off watching TV with Kelly at around 11pm. Shuffled up to bed when I woke up at about 1:30 (Kelly was still up watching something). Woke up at 8am this morning, and am coffee-ing up so I can go out and do more yardwork today. Whee!

  • Weird week, birthdays, and other stuff

    This whole week has been a bit odd, somehow. It’s hard to explain, it just has. I’ve been feeling a bit more ‘out of it’ than usual. It might be the sudden change in weather since it’s recently gone from horribly hot to cool and (for a few days) rainy. It might also be that I’m just now recognizing that the days are getting shorter (I’m already missing it being light out until about 10pm). Might have been the strange but oddly fun downtown scavenger hunt my manager organized for SuperSweetCo’s engineering team Tuesday afternoon (part team building exercise, part reward for our hard work getting the latest version of software out the door). Maybe part of it has been the DNC. Dunno. 🙂

    Monday night Kelly and I watched Amazing Grace, a historical drama about William Wilberforce, the late 18th to early 19th century British politician, who fought to end Britain’s part in the slave trade. It was a really good movie, with a great cast. Worth watching.

    Tuesday afternoon was the aforementioned scavenger hunt. Ran around downtown Portland with iPhones and digital cameras, looking for random clues, performing silly stunts and making asses of ourselves. It was pretty fun overall (despite the embarrassment of some of the stunts).

    Yesterday I had a few pints from my keg with Snooks, talking about the DNC (love Snooks latest post, btw), the upcoming Hobbit film(s), and other totally rad nerdy stuff.

    Right now I’m at Moon & Sixpence, awaiting my brother (who’s birthday it is today), enjoying a pint of Guinness. Happy birthday Travis!

    Tomorrow we go to another birthday thing, this time for my friend Amy. Happy birthday Amy!

    Looking forward to the three day weekend. Much yardwork will (hopefully) get done. And much relaxing. I’d love to just spend 3 days at home, doing whatever the heck I want. That’d rock. 🙂

  • Anniversary, and dinner at a friends

    Ciao VitoLast night Kelly and I went out to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary was technically Thursday, but we went out for dinner after work yesterday instead. Kelly picked me up from work after a work happy hour (last one in the current office, I move to a new location in a couple weeks), stopped at home, and then walked down Alberta Street to the restaurant Ciao Vito. We arrived a bit early for our reservation so we went next door to Mash Tun for a beer and a visit with their friendly staff. Dinner was delicious, I had the Sugo of Pork dish, which was very good (and very filling) and Kelly had some kind of fried cheese thing (can’t find on the online menu) and a caprese salad for her dinner. Everything was wonderful, and the staff were friendly and welcoming. It was a very nice and low-key dinner experience, I recommend the restaurant. After dinner we went back to the Mash Tun for another couple pints before walking home.

    After getting home Kelly wanted to watch Serenity (I love her!), though sadly I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch with the cat about halfway through, waking up at 2 or 3 in the morning and shuffling upstairs to plop in bed.

    Tonight we went out to dinner at a friends place in Hillsboro. Had a great time out… chatted, ate fajitas, drank beer, and got to see Battlefield Bad Company in action. The game looks like fun, too bad it’s not out for the PC. Grrr.

    In related gaming news, I’ve rediscovered OpenArena recently. It’s free and works on Mac, Linux and PC, check it out and get your frag on! 🙂

  • Camping (Bernie Man)

    This weekend Kelly and I went camping at a friend’s property a little way south-east of Salem. The host (Bernard, aka Bernie) has a house and several acres along a clean, mountain-fed river, and invited a group to join him camping, swimming, and drinking beer. Both Kelly and I had a really good time catching up with friends, walking through the woods, swimming, and absorbing that campfire smell.

    Our first night sleeping in the tent, a deer or elk almost killed Kelly and I! I (unsurprisingly) slept through the event, but around 3am a fellow camper heard some crashing and saw a large shape run off. When I woke up I found a hole in our tent, and one of the polls out of it’s peg and the whole corner of the tent was smooshed in. Dunno, could have been sasquatch. All I know is we almost could have died. *gasp*

    Other highlights: people brought art (Bernie is an artist himself and has some space he set up as a gallery), the food people made and shared was excellent, and while cold, the swimming was fantastic. Had a great time, and hope to go again someday. More photos in the gallery.

  • Happy birthday T-dog

    After spending the day working, I walked over to Tyson & Sujata’s (meeting Miranda and Brian on the way, since we live in the same neighborhood) for a party they were hosting to celebrate Tyson’s birthday. Had a really good time (as always) seeing everybody (which I will call ‘the gang’, also known as ‘the kids’ or ‘my special friends’), spending time in his beautifully landscaped yard, sipping on beer (Tyson had picked up a pony keg of Hopworks Urban Brewery‘s Kolsch, which was really tasty for such a summer evening), listening to music, and generally chilling out. Had a great time. Happy birthday T-dog!

  • Portland International Beerfest, 2008

    Today after a few coworkers and I walked to the north park blocks for the Portland International Beerfest to sample some delicious beers from around the world. We all left work a bit early to get there in time to catch the ‘happy hour’ price, where we got an additional 5 tickets for the regular $20 entry price (which includes a small, 4 oz glass, 10 tickets, and a guide). While there I got to try out some new beers, as well as use my tickets on things I knew I’d enjoy.

    Here’s what I had:

    • Two of the newer New Belgium beers I hadn’t had yet, La Folie (very sour and citrus-y, but not bad for a warm day, by the end I kind of liked it despite it’s very sour flavor) and Mighty Arrow (a fairly good if middle-of-the-road pale ale)
    • Echt Kriekenbier, listed as a Cherry Flanders Red from Belgium, which was a bit fruity, but really pretty tasty (considering I don’t typically like fruity beers)
    • Rochefort 8, a Trappist ale from Belgium, pretty strong (9.2% ABV), malty, and rich.
    • Lagunitas Brewing‘s “We’re only in it for the Money“… good beer, and bonus points for a hilarious name, and an even more hilarious title listed under it’s brewing style: Why Does it Hurt When I Pee?
    • Chimay Grande Reserve (aka Chimay Blue), something I’d had before, but not for quite a while, so I had some. A really quality Belgian Trappist dark strong ale.
    • Coniston Bluebird Bitter, a consistent favorite of mine, and what I kept going back to (both because it was 1 ticket and it’s good). I think I’d like to get this on tap at my kegerator. 🙂

  • A recap, and some joker on the bus

    Yeah, it’s been that long. Keep meaning to write, just been busy.  Here’s a recap since my last post

    July 4th
    We held a really small BBQ for the Independence Day. Had a good time grilling meats and drinking beers, and were treated to a show as loads of people in my neighborhood tend to fire off some large, impressive, and very illegal fireworks (in Oregon, anything firework that flies is illegal, as far as I understand it).

    July 5th
    The following day we went to another BBQ (and housewarming) at a friends house. Learned that a soon-to-be dentist friend has made money from old teeth. If you have teeth pulled with crowns or fillings (and you choose to let them keep the bloody, rotten things) the remaining amounts of gold, palladium, and other valuable materials can be melted down and the value can be exchanged for cash. Since it’s exchanging one form of currency for another, it isn’t taxable. As a result of his schooling, he’s collected a number of teeth to practice on, and found he had enough with said valuable materials to buy himself a plasma TV. Guess it’s an added bonus from that whole dentistry shtick.

    July 8th-10th
    Some our friends from back east (S & C) came out to visit and stayed with us for a few days. They have a wee little one (about 9 months old), and we hadn’t seen them in quite a while, so it was cool to catch up and meet the little man.

    July 10th-13th
    Kelly left town for Utah for a few days for a work event. That meant I was bach’n it through Sunday the 13th. In that time I went another BBQ for the friends from back east at Snooks place, and generally just drank a lot of beer.

    This past week
    Work over the past few weeks has been hectic, and now we’re in the final push for the next release of SuperSweetCo‘s application. Add to that some additional pressure to get things super solid, super quick, it’s made things a bit more stressful around the office. So last night I worked late, am working late tonight, and will likely work this weekend. Oh well, I too want the release to be solid and have all the polish it should. Just wish there were more time. Ain’t it always the way.

    Today
    Kelly left this morning for another 4 days for another work event (in Seattle, WA this time). I’m sitting in my back yard with a pint of Harp (what’s currently on tap at Ryan’s Pub), and am enjoying the cooler temperatures while I write this and do more work.

    And finally… there was some joker on the bus
    Today I saw two people with Joker makeup in Portland, not sure if it’s a coordinated marketing thing, or just that I happened to see two hardcore nerdy Batman fans with Joker makeup on the same day, but either way this joker was sitting on the bus when I got on, so when I sat down I had to grab my camera quickly take a photo. He was reading a Batman comic, and had a large box filled with comics, all in plastic sleeves. I will say that this joker was dressed up (and made up) pretty well. The other joker I saw on the street was dressed out of character (black leather jacket and jeans) and the makeup was pretty light (didn’t even have green hair). Kinda funny (and a bit worrisome) to see Joker on your bus. 🙂

  • Organic Brewfest, and a Ghost Dog birthday

    Today I went to the North American Organic Brewers Festival. Kelly is volunteering there today and tomorrow, so I thought I’d go and show my support. Which meant going and drinking beer. Pretty hard to pass that up.

    The festival itself was a quite a bit of fun, and was fairly mellow compared to other brewfest’s held in Portland. It was held at Overlook Park, a spot I hadn’t been to before (though I’d been by many times over the years). On my way in (after having dropped Kelly off an hour or so earlier for her volunteer shift) I ran into a coworker and his wife, so we hung out for a bit, and later another coworker joined us. The weather here has been scorching hot, so we spent most of our time in the shade of a tree, between picking up samples of delicious organic beers.

    After Kelly finished her shift, we went to Rose & Thistle to meet up with Mr & Mrs Ghost Dog, to celebrate GD’s birthday (“I’m 37, I’m not old”). Happy Birthday Ghost Dog!

    Had a great time out, despite how disgustingly hot it was (through midnight). I really dislike 90+ degree days, and today was pretty nasty. Gimme 75 degrees and I’ll be happy. Urgh.

    I’ll be back at the brewfest tomorrow (Kelly has another volunteer shift until about 5pm) in case any of you can join me. Hooray for delicious, organic beer! Oh, and the cups are made from corn, so they are biodegradable / compost-able. Neat!

  • Believe it or not…

    The keg of Guinness is dead. My brother and I finished off what was left of it tonight. It died at approx. 10:30pm PST. It lived a short, but mirth-filled life of two weeks, one day, and three hours. I will take your condolences now.

    I was surprised at how quickly the keg went, but as I mentioned in my previous post, I was working at it harder than I normal would due to all the rumors of a one and a half, to two week lifespan. While I now have no conclusive evidence to dispell such rumors, I can say that a keg of Guinness on the Nitro/CO2 mix (with a slightly lower than specified PSI) will live at least 15 days. I was hoping to find out exactly how long it would last, and make Guinness-filled stews and cakes with what was left, but the rumors of a ‘life cut short’ caused me to both drink it, and push it on my friends and family, at such a rate that I wasn’t able to find out.

    Maybe next time.

    However for now, I’m switching back to a beer made for CO2, something that I know will last for a couple months. More importantly, something I won’t feel pressured to drink up so quickly. That’s a good thing all around.